Lessons from May 14

A BIG round of applause, please, for Pangasinan’s voters.

The impressive turnout of about 70%,or just a little less than one million out of the 1.36 million registered voters in the province, is proof that despite the demoralizing (and still unresolved) ‘Hello Garci’  issue in the 2004 Presidential election, Pangasinenses have not completely lost faith in our electoral system. If any, it probably even strengthened their resolve to have their voice heard and their vote properly counted when it comes to deciding who should be governing our democratic system.

We are rising out of our passivity. We are beginning to shed off our “bahala na” attitude. We do believe that we have a choice and that we have the power to actually make those choices for ourselves and our future.

The winners in the May 14 election for both the senatorial race and the local government level are by and large, an indication of an intelligent electorate.
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How to get rich quick in Dagupan City

By Ermin Garcia Jr.

Leave it to our incumbent city officials at the Dagupan City hall to show you how to get rich quick at the expense of the city government.       

First they must know that you come from a prominent, affluent and influential political family. Kung poor ka, sorry na lang.

Second, you must be well connected with the city hall that will prescribe the script for the process to get things done and get away with them.  Kung wa ka say, sorry na lang.

Thirdly, the laws will be interpreted and stretched to suit your purposes. Kung masunurin ka, OK ka!

Such is the case of the planned controversial tourism complex being constructed today by Metrostate Realty Corporation at the Magsaysay Park.
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Lone Ranger Panlilio’s dare vs. the “poorman’s game”

By Gerry Garcia

CAUSES which generally compel some hospitals to further detain healed patients in their custody for their failure to pay the costs of their stay . . . are most often financial and understandably, relevant to the concerned hospitals’ stable and continued operations. Hospitals can’t function without the money for nurses’ and doctors’ pay and, much more, for patients’ medicines.
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A different kind of election

By Jun Velasco

WHILE the country just came off — thank God! — from  its  recent  political bedlam, the 2007  elections, this one at the De La Salle University on Taft Avenue was a model of   beautiful  democracy,  clean,  talent-based and  orderly  exercise.

What of it, you say.  Wait a minute, that’s not yet the story.
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Governor-elect Spines in focus

By Gonzalo Duque

I WANT to start this column with a smile.

First, kudos to all the election superstars led, of course, by come backing Speaker Joe de Venecia (sigurado na yan, according to a Kampi insider), governor-elect Amado Espino, vice governor-elect Marilyn Primicias, Congresswoman-elect Rachel Arenas, Mayor-elect Al Fernandez, Mayor-elect Rey Velasco, Vice Mayor-elect Belen Fernandez, the Resuello brothers, mayor and vice mayor-elect Ayoyand Bogs, Councilors-elect Farah Decano and Karlos Reyna, who else?
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New anti-smuggling czar

By Eva C. Visperas

He phoned in the good news to me a few days ago. But   truth is, he had been saying his reservations about accepting his new position because it’s really a very tough job.

In fact, when the news was relayed to him no less by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo about his new appointment prior to the elections, he asked for some time to think about it first.
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Priest-politician

By +Oscar V. Cruz D. D.

By simple considering the general, special and distinctive obligations appended to the person and office of a Priest as provided by Church Law premised on faith and reason, one cannot but come to the realization that a Priest-Politician is neither one nor the other. Someone may be one or the other—but not both really.
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Declining soil and water quality worries scientists

By Sosimo Ma. Pablico

Scientists are getting wary on the declining quality of soil and water all over the world as a result of continuous application of inorganic fertilizer. Thus, efforts are now being exerted to reverse the declining trend.

In effect, this was the main focus of discussions in a recent symposium at the Bureau of Postharvest and Extension (BPRE) in Nueva Ecija.  The symposium was sponsored jointly by BPRE and the Kochi University in Japan.
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I could be wrong

By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.

I’M writing this today, Wednesday, two days before The PUNCH deadline because I have to travel to Baguio City to meet the Tour entourage and to lend moral support to our Pangasinan road gladiators because I believe they need some. So far, they had    been leading from day two up to the sixth day, and that’s today.
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Chicken future

By Marifi Jara

I LOVE chicken.

101 ways: Lechon manok; marinated in sweet barbecue-style sauce and grilled; tinola cooked with lots of ginger, chili leaves, and sayote; adobo; afritada; cooked in curry and coconut milk; in macaroni soup; ground and made into hamburger patties (a healthier alternative to beef); Chinese-style with soy and sesame oil; or, and this one is what I consider one of my comfort food, simply sprinkled with a bit of salt and fried to a golden crisp.
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